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Supermarket health checks

Over 200,000 people suffer a heart attack each year in the UK, but with new proposed health checks, at least 9,000 heart attacks may be prevented. NHS England and Public Health England are encouraging crucial health checks to be carried out in supermarkets, football stadiums and by firefighters doing home checks, as it is believed that only half of those eligible for regular health checks end up having them.

These checks look out for signs such as high blood cholesterol levels or abnormal blood pressure which may be indicative of a more serious underlying health problem; most commonly cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, as part of an initiative to prevent thousands of unnecessary deaths caused by stokes, heart attacks and coronary artery disease, NHS is asking local authorities to step up and carry out simple health checks out in public, as opposed to the more traditional GP practice. Already, in Cheshire, firefighters have received funding to promote the idea of getting these checks done, and referring people onto services which can help should there be cause for medical concern.

Personally, I believe these checks to be a fantastic idea; I think that, often, people get caught out by their health because they simply don’t entertain the idea that they could be at risk of high blood pressure (for example). By encouraging health checks to be performed in places where the majority of the general public will likely come across in their day-to-day lives, not only could it help prevent many people from suffering illnesses and even fatalities, but also raise awareness, potentially causing people to rethink their lifestyles and perhaps trying to be more active or eat healthily.